Doing this for an hour can add 7 hours to your life

Whether it’s a green smoothie or a relaxing trip to the Bahamas, we’re always trying to add things to our life that will help us live longer, happier lives. Well, listen up, because recent research shows that running could add some extra years to your life. Yes, you read that right. Running.

At the Cooper Institute in Dallas a few years ago, a team of exercise scientists gathered extensive data from many different medical and fitness tests, and they found that running for just five minutes has been correlated with a longer life. The answers were so compelling that another study was conducted, this time combining this research with some new studies. And the results are unbelievable.

They found that running for an hour could tack on seven extra hours of life. Additionally, they discovered that runners experience 16 percent fewer deaths over all, as well as 25 percent fewer deadly heart attacks.

Compared to people who don’t run, runners are generally set to live about three extra years, and that’s even if they’re overweight, smokers, or drinkers.

There aren’t any other forms of exercise that have been shown to extend your lifespan in this way (sorry, yogis). One of the reasons they say this is the case is because running fights high blood pressure and keeps body fat at bay.

Of course, the researchers don’t want you to think that you can just run and live until you’re 100. They cap off the extra lifespan you can gain from running at three years. But still, three years is a good amount of time.

Okay. Noted. Excuse us while we get our running shoes on, because we wanna live forever.